Gideon
|Profession = Pawnshop Worker}} '''Gideon' is a supporting character on Once Upon a Time. Through sharing a dream world with his mother, Belle, he was able to communicate with her prior to his birth and guide her into rescuing his endangered future by hiding him away from his potentially dangerous father, Rumplestiltskin. However, this made him vulnerable to his even more dangerous grandmother, the Black Fairy, who darkened his heart in a realm where time works differently. When at last he returns to Storybrooke, far from the hero his mother hoped he would be, it appears he is destined to be the one to kill the savior Emma Swan. Biography 'Before the Curse' }} When Rumplestiltskin's first born child Baelfire gets bitten by a snake and his health starts declining, Rumple and his wife Milah go to a healer named Fendrake for a cure. However, he tries to extort money from them, and so Milah orders her husband to return later and kill the healer so that he can steal the antidote for their ailing child. Rumple goes to kill Fendrake, but he can't do it, instead taking the offer of a deal. He ends up signing a contract that entitles Fendrake to Rumple's second born child, which the cripple sees as a steal, now planning to have no more children other than Baelfire. This decision horrifies Milah, for Rumple's action has decided her future for her, and declines their marriage even further. Years later when he's the Dark One, Rumple kills Fendrake to ensure any babies he might make with his apprentice and lover Cora don't get taken away. He doesn't have any babies with Cora though, and Fendrake ends up in the Underworld where he signs over the rights to Rumple's second born child... to Hades, its evil ruler. 'After the Third Curse' 'Season 5 }} Centuries pass since the deal, and on the day Rumple reunites with his new wife, Belle, they re-consummate their marriage, and unknowingly get pregnant. Unaware of her pregnancy, Belle finds Rumple abruptly leaving for a trip to the Underworld. In the Underworld, Gold uses a crystal ball to find his deceased chilld's place in the afterlife, but it instead guides him to his unborn child, and he learns that Belle is pregnant and tries to leave before this is realized in the Underworld. But Hades finds out and uses the obtained contract Rumple signed centuries prior as leverage to make the Dark One do his bidding. Rumple is forced by Hades to open a portal to Storybrooke and bring Zelena and Robin Hood's baby to the Underworld, unintentionally bringing Belle as well. Rumple reveals to his true love that she is pregnant, but also that he signed away their child years ago. Belle and Rumple work together to find a way to free themselves of Hades' contract, but this is put on pause when trouble irrupts with Belle's ex-fiancé. Hades offers to release the contract if Rumple and Gaston's battle ends with one of them placing the other in the River of Lost Souls, but Belle refuses to let this happen and her actions to find another way only lead to her pushing Gaston in the river herself with the child still owed to Hades. Belle realizes that Hades could, like Emma did to Zelena when the former was temporarily the Dark One, simply accelerate her pregnancy and take her baby whenever he wanted to, so in order to prevent this, she takes a sleeping curse obtained from Zelena, putting her pregnancy on pause. As Belle sleeps, Gold takes matters into his own hands and allies with his late father, Peter Pan. His plan works, and Hades tears up the contract. From there, Rumple, failing to wake her with True Love's Kiss, puts Belle in Pandora's Box after condemning Pan to the River of Lost Souls and carries her home to Storybrooke. After Belle's father refuses to wake her up, Rumple takes remains of the Olympian Crystal to acquire the magic needed to do it himself. When his grandson, Baelfire's illegitimate son, steals it and takes it to New York with his crush, Gold follows them and takes it back before going to a hotel where he will wake Belle. The box containing Belle is sucked into a portal created by and put in the possession of Mr. Hyde. After working with Emma, Henry, Regina, and Violet, Rumple slips into a portal and confronts Hyde, provides him with a way of waking Belle in exchange for Storybrooke's ownership. Season 6' }} Gold is told by Mr. Hyde to seek out the Temple of Morpheus where he will find magical sands that, when sprinkled on Belle, will allow him to enter her dreams and wake her from within her own consciousness. However, when Rumple puts this plan into motion, he sprinkles the sand onto his and Belle's unborn child too, meaning that he enters the dreamworld of both his wife and his son. Said son, a grown man in this world, decides to play the part of Morpheus in order to manipulate his father, wanting to make sure that his mother does right by him by not falling for more of the Dark One's tricks. He leads Rumple to the Dark Castle, where Belle dreams of being Rumple's maid, and the latter decides to make Belle love him again by dancing with her and recreating the scenario under which they fell in love. However, her memories return when they kiss and she cuts it off, refusing to go back to a life of broken promises and believing that their child will be better off waiting with her than being in debt to him. Morpheus is thrilled to hear her say that, proceeding to reveal himself and that he intends to wake Belle up with true love's kiss, now that he's certain she won't fall for her husband's tricks. Upon kissing her on the forehead, she wakes up, and she takes her son's warning to heart and goes back home only to refuse to build a home with Gold, to his devastation. }} Now focusing on what's best for herself and her unborn son, Belle takes shelter aboard the Jolly Roger with Hook. Gold puts together a tape of reading the poem "Sleep Well" that he has David deliver to Belle in exchange for information on his father's death. After some initial reluctance, she decides to play it for their son. When Belle becomes under threat of a vengeful Hyde, Rumple uses magic to trap her on the Jolly Roger; however, this doesn't turn out in her favor when Dr. Jekyll, Hyde's "better" half, comes aboard the ship to kill her, wanting revenge on Gold as well. After being rescued by Hook, Belle condemns Rumple for his dark ways, but he believes that necessity and the need to protect their child will make Belle love him again. Belle attends her first ultrasound without Rumple where she confides in Snow her fear of not being able to let Rumple be apart of their son's life. However, she later slips a sonogram picture of their son underneath the door of the pawn shop. Zelena reveals to Belle that Rumple plans to use the Shears of Destiny to change their son's fate, and she later confronts him about this as he looks over the ultrasound picture she sent him. Belle decides to flee to the Enchanted Forest to get Rumple away from their unborn son, but he stops her before Zelena can open a portal, and slaps a tracking bracelet onto her. }} When Gold plans to use magic to speed up Belle's pregnancy and steal their son away, the beauty begins working with Emma and Hook to find a way to stop him. She winds up falling asleep in the library when doing research and she re-enters the Dream World. Following a strand, she is led to the grown up version of her son and they embrace in a short reunion. He tells his mother that what it takes to defeat his father is right in front of her, which Hook later discerns is squid ink. Emma and Hook use the squid ink on Gold and try to find the Shears of Destiny and/or the Dark One's Dagger, but it wears off and Rumple corners Belle in the library, but winds up backing down last minute when she gets through to him. He opts out of speeding the pregnancy, giving Belle her space, but his old associate, the Evil Queen (scorned that Gold still holds onto his feelings for Belle and that he had been using her) has other ideas. The heroes are unaware of this though, believing it to be Rumple's doing when Belle's pregnancy is accelerated. While in labor, Belle goes unconscious and re-enters the Dream World a second time. Her son tells her that she knows what she must do, and so, after delivering the baby boy which she names Gideon (after the hero in her favorite book), she calls in the Blue Fairy. She requests that Blue be Gideon's fairy godmother and that she take him far away from all this madness. Blue agrees to do so, also agreeing to read Her Handsome Hero to the boy. Once Blue is gone, Gold arrives and swears to find their son. }} Blue fails to protect Gideon, for Rumple's mother, the Black Fairy, swoops in and steals him away and brings the infant back to her own realm to raise him as her own. Growing up, Gideon lives in a cell where he befriends another young boy named Roderick. This boy winds up being severely punished when Gideon steals the book that his birth mother had left to him. Come his 28th birthday, Gideon is now hardened into a loyal apprentice of the Black Fairy, and when she realizes the key to her vault is missing she sends him to the mines to punish the one responsible. Roderick steps forward, claiming to be the culprit, but gets through to Gideon that despite not saving him all those years ago, he knows that deep down he still wants to be a hero. He reveals that the Black Fairy once used the dark fairy dust to create a powerful curse and he fears what she'll do this time. Gideon agrees to help him find the Black Fairy's crystal ball in order to contact the Savior for help; however, when finding and trying to use it, it shatters. The Black Fairy arrives and reveals that she concocted the entire scheme as a way to test Gideon and is disappointed to see him betray her. She has her guards haul Roderick away, but when Gideon throws dark fairy dust at her, which she dodges, the evil fairy in turn uses it to turn Roderick into a beetle. She crushes the innocent boy, killing him, to Gideon's absolute horror. She then reveals her plan of having the Savior break the curse keeping her from leaving this realm permanently and rips out her grandson's heart in order to force him to go to Storybrooke and kill the Savior himself, thus allowing Hrunting to free her. }} All the while, Rumple keeps his word and begins his quest to find Gideon, using a magic globe to track him down; however, he sees that the boy has fallen completely off the grid. As such, he goes to Belle about this, and the two learn from an injured Mother Superior at the convent that Gideon has been stolen by Rumple's evil mother. Meanwhile, the Evil Queen, having sent Emma to an alternate reality and caused Snow and Charming misery in a two way sleeping curse, roams the streets of Storybrooke as a portal opens up inside of Granny's Diner. Soon enough, a hooded figure exits, and when questioned by the Queen, the figure turns her into a caged snake. Back at the pawn shop, Belle and Rumple fret over what has become of their son, but eventually put aside their conflicts to work together when Belle realizes it wasn't Rumple who sped up her pregnancy. Rumple goes on to reveal that his mother would lurk around in the shadow of realms of immense darkness, places where time works differently and nothing makes sense. Belle fears what this means for Gideon, but soon enough she and Rumple both find out. The hooded figure enters the pawn shop and draws back his hood, revealing to be none other than Gideon himself and greets his shocked parents. }} Gideon explains himself to Belle and Rumple, how the Black Fairy raised him for 28 years, trying to turn him evil, but how during all those dark times he remembered Belle and tried to follow in her example. Now, however, he wishes to kill Emma Swan in order to become the savior himself and defeat his grandmother once and for all. While Belle seeks out the help of the other heroes, Rumple goes to reason with Gideon; testing how committed he is by trying to provoke Gideon into hitting him, and when he doesn't, he points out that if Gideon can't hit his father, then there's no way he can kill Emma. Rumple wants to help him, but Gideon assures his father than he doesn't need his help. He later faces Emma on Main Street, upon her return from the Wish Realm, and as it seems he's about to win, Emma one-ups him just in time. She's prepared to kill him, but Gold pleas that she doesn't, for it's his son. Gideon tells his father that he doesn't need his help, proceeding to disappear in a puff of smoke. Later in the evening, Belle and Rumple meet at the wishing well where Rumple admits to not wanting Gideon to go down a dark path like he did. He and Belle decide that it's best they work together to do whatever they can to save their son from darkening his soul, while in the meantime Gideon roams Main Street alone and busts the clock tower. }} Gideon is found by Rumple, pilfering the broken sword from the sheriff's station, and from there he's able to knock him out and tie him up in the clock tower, magic inhibited. He tells him all about how addictive the call of the darkness can be once you've had a taste, as well as how he came to taste it himself; he did it for good reasons, to save his previous son, but it didn't make him a hero because darkness can't do that. Eventually, he tries to rid Gideon of these impulses by dosing him with some memory potion, thus making him forget all that his grandmother did to him as he grew up... only the potion doesn't work, and Gideon uses his father's vulnerability to his advantage and manages to take hold of the Dark One's dagger. Now controlling Rumple, he has him retrieve the broken sword, then demanding to know how he can repair it. Rumple explains that he needs to imbue it with the blood of the person who forged it, but doesn't want his son spilling innocent blood for that might be enough to really start him on this dark path. Especially since the person whose blood he needs is the Blue Fairy's. Despite her being his fairy godmother, Gideon goes after her, ordering Rumple not to stop him. Rumple shows up anyway; not to stop his son, but to commit this dark act for him so that he doesn't have to. He takes some of Blue's blood and her magic is drained into the sword's reparation. Gideon then gives his father his dagger back and sets off, more powerful than ever. }} Hook is currently dealing with the repercussions of finding out he killed David's father years ago, and soon loses Emma's trust, not because he murdered her grandfather but because he kept it a secret from her. As such, he had made plans to leave Storybrooke with his friend Captain Nemo on the Nautilus, but a conversation with Snow later makes him change his mind. He goes back to Nemo, just as he and his crew is prepared to set off, to tell him that he'll be going back to Emma after all. This backfires, however, as Gideon appears on the Nautilus, having used his magic to set it to take off. He informs Hook that in order to succeed at his plan, he needs the pirate out of his way. As such, Hook and the rest of the Nautilus crew is sent below the waters and through a portal to another realm. Gideon, meanwhile, magics out in time to watch from afar. }} Snow and Regina trick Emma into attending a new bar that's just opened, Aesop's Tables, where they hope to help her get over her break up with Hook. There works a bartender who Emma later in the evening guesses to be Aesop himself. He claims to have failed to write a successful story, and so he left for the Land of Untold Stories in order to accomplish it there. When noting that he loved a woman who didn't love him back, Emma relates to this, believing Hook abandoned her. She's unaware that it was in fact Gideon's doing, and when she starts to cry she wipes her tears on a napkin. The bartender holds onto this napkin and later reveals himself to Emma outside her home as she tries to reconnect with Hook through an enchanted shell. He reveals himself to in fact be Gideon and refuses to allow Hook to return to Storybrooke unless Emma helps him kill the Black Fairy. }} Emma is against going up against the Black Fairy, but Gideon reminds the Savior that there's no getting Hook back if she refuses to offer her assistance. Emma still chooses to be difficult, slapping Gideon, but Gideon continues to try and persuade by telling her that he's not the enemy, his grandmother is, and having dealt with the Black Fairy he knows she must be stopped. Before leaving, he asks Emma to reflect more on her decision because he's not going to change his mind or the mission. Emma proceeds to go to Belle and Rumple about this, the latter of which confirms what a threat the Black Fairy can be to them all should she break free from the realm she's been exiled to. Finally, Emma goes to Gideon in the clock tower and he hands over Hrunting and offers to make a portal to bring back Hook as a way to prove himself. However, a spider is sent through the portal to the Sorcerer's mansion to attack Emma, and Gideon continues to try to build Emma's trust as they escape the creature. This doesn't end well for Emma though as Gideon then shoves her into a web and she becomes stuck. He leaves her to die at the hands of the spider, taking Hrunting to return to the clock tower so he can kill the Black Fairy when Emma is dead. The portal opens as Emma's life begins to slip away, but Gold saves Emma just in time. Gideon is relieved that the Black Fairy's plan failed, as this was all due to being under her control, but it turns out she made it through the portal with just enough time. She compliments him on a job well done and asks if, even though he is under her control, there is a part of him that wanted to help her, and Gideon forcefully confirms. Satisfied with his answer, she smiles and tells him they have much more to do. }} Gideon follows the Black Fairy to the pawnshop where she reveals herself to Rumple, to his utter shock. The Dark One realizes that his son's plan of becoming the Savior was all just a ruse in order to get the Black Fairy into town, disappointed in his son, and Gideon apologizes but informs Rumple that she's his mother and hopes that one day he'll understand. This results in Belle emerging from the back room, horrified as well, but assures Gideon that no matter what he's done to help his grandmother he can always come back to his parents. The Black Fairy assures her daughter-in-law that Gideon won't be going anywhere though, and tells Rumple that once the darkness arrives they'll finally reunite and become the family they were meant to be. Gideon and the Black Fairy later encounter Emma and Snow in the woods as they're in need of a pixie flower to break Snow and David's shared sleeping curse. Under the Black Fairy's instructions, Gideon is forced to wipe out the woods of the flowers in order to ruin their foes' plans. Because of this, Snow and David won't be able to accompany Emma in the final battle. However, a piece of Belle's love for him remains in Gideon as he works up the ability to defy the Black Fairy and leave but a simple flower left for the women, something Rumple later discovers and revels in knowing that his mother will soon not have control over his son forever. }} The Black Fairy tries and fails to form an alliance with Zelena, resulting in the Wicked Witch attempting to make a sneak attack in the dwarf mines and take out Storybrooke's latest adversary. However, this doesn't go according to plan, and Gideon accompanies his grandmother when Zelena tries to make her move. The Black Fairy starts to lead Zelena on a chase while previously having Gideon throw Regina and currently deal with one another. Once Zelena has been tricked into channeling her magic into darkening the light fairy crystals, Gideon and Regina catch up to them. Gideon continues to act against Regina, standing over her after the Black Fairy takes a turn throwing Regina in order to keep her out of the way while she has a face off with Zelena. Another plan is formulated by the Wicked Witch later on though, that being to sacrifice her magic in order to turn the crystals light again. She uses the Crimson Heart to do so, and Gideon and the Black Fairy are shocked to watch in the mines as the crystals are restored to their true form again. They later head for the wishing well where they watch through a crystal ball as the heroes all gather at Belle and Rumple's shop, restarting Blue's heart. The Black Fairy fears that Blue will expose her biggest secret: why she gave Rumple up as a baby. }} Gideon and the Black Fairy infiltrate the heroes, taking the form of David and Snow respectively in order to be present when Mother Superior wakes up and reveals the location of the other piece of the wand. While the Black Fairy poofs away with Blue upon gaining her much needed information, Gideon is detained by Rumple who slaps an anti-magic cuff on him before he can escape, and he's tied to a chair in the pawn shop. Belle tries to get through to Gideon and get him to tell her where the Black Fairy is keeping his heart, but he's unable to as he's now forced to feel a certain pain whenever he resists his evil grandmother. Rumple comes up with a plan to enter Gideon's dream world and talk to him there, bringing Emma with him, and leaving Belle in charge of watching over the three as they sleep. There, Gideon and his father are reunited, and Gideon admits to having no idea as to where his heart is; however, he does reveal the Black Fairy's greatest fear. The three then end up witnessing one of Rumple's memories, the one being where the Black Fairy - back then known as Fiona - changes Rumple's fate of being the Savior with the Shears of Destiny. The three wake up and believe Rumple is meant to face his mother, and so they all leave him to do that. He manages to get Gideon his heart back, thus allowing Rumple and Belle to finally reunite with their son. Rumple makes a promise to Gideon and Belle that while it may not seem apparent at the time, everything he does is to keep them safe. This is evident by the fact that Rumple has secretly formed an alliance with his mother. In the Black Fairy's curse, Gold and Gideon live a happy life as father and son, running the pawnshop together. Belle seems to have left them when Gideon was a baby, but Gold believes otherwise. The Black Fairy, going by Fiona and mayor of Storybrooke, acts as a mother figure to Gideon. Gold manages to track down Belle, who is terrified of the outside world, is livid with what his mother has done to his love. Meanwhile, Fiona's attempts to break Emma's belief are looking fruitful... until her great-grandson/cursed adoptive son Henry manages to get her to hold on to it. Threatened, she goes to Gold's shop looking for her wand and stops a confused Gideon from involving his father, having never given up his heart as Rumple thought. Using it, she translates the uses Henry wrote to read on how to win the final battle and sends Gideon to kill Emma. Again. Gold returns, revealing to his mother he's awake. He confronts for the state she put Belle in, leading him to finally rid the realms and his whole family of her dark presence by killing her with her own wand. But the Black Fairy left a fail-safe in Gideon's heart, ensuring he's to kill Emma no matter what. In a duel, Emma allows Gideon to stab her. Thanks to Emma's willingness to sacrifice herself and Gold finally overcoming his desire for power, the heroes won the final battle. Gideon is also reverted to baby form, giving him a fresh start to his parents' delight. After a few days of peace and happiness, Gideon and his parents meet with their expansive family for dinner. Gallery Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character. Promo 601 24.png Promo 611 13.png Promo 611 14.png Promo 611 15.png Promo 611 16.png Promo 611 34.png Promo 611 39.png Promo 611 41.png Promo 611 42.png Promo 611 47.png Promo 611 48.png Promo 611 50.png Promo 611 51.png Promo 611 58.png Promo 611 59.png Promo 616 11.png Promo 617 01.png Promo 617 04.png Promo 617 06.png Promo 618 06.png Promo 618 07.png Promo 618 09.png Promo 618 10.png Promo 618 11.png Promo 618 13.png Promo 619 02.png Promo 619 03.png Promo 619 10.png Promo 619 11.png Promo 619 18.png Promo 619 19.png Promo 619 20.png Promo 619 21.png Promo 619 22.png Promo 619 23.png Promo 619 24.png Promo 622 01.png Promo 622 05.png Promo 622 08.png Promo 622 09.png Promo 622 10.png Promo 622 15.png Promo 622 16.png Promo 622 23.png Promo 622 24.png Promo 622 28.png Promo 622 31.png Promo 622 33.png Promo 622 41.png Promo 622 42.png Promo 622 43.png Category:Supporting Characters Category:Season 6 Characters Category:Season 7 Characters Category:Centric Characters Category:Magicians